The present invention relates to a machine for assembling structures composed, in part, of a plurality of segments and more particularly to such a machine which is adapted to assemble reels of the type used in storing and handling utility cable wherein the reels have substantially cylindrical central portions, composed of a plurality of substantially uniform, transversely arcuate segments and lateral flange portions secured in engagement with the ends of the segments.
Reels of a variety of types used in storing and handling utility cables, power lines, telephone lines and the like have, in the past, required manual assembly due to the manipulations needed to retain the unwieldy segments, or staves, in a cylindrical configuration to permit attachment of flange portions thereto. The plurality of staves must be arranged and united in a contiguous cylindrical configuration with the flange portions abutting the ends of the staves and held together by bolts interconnecting the flange portions extending through the interior of the cylindrical portion. Such manual assembly is extremely slow, tedious and is capable of producing only about six units per man hour at best. While the manual construction of reels has, in the past, been feasible if unsatisfactory, the increasing demand for reels coupled with the rapid increase of labor costs, has made such conventional manual methods of construction increasingly impractical.
No existing mechanical contrivance, of which the applicant is aware, is capable of assembling such reels. The prior art patents such as the Bureau U.S. Pat. No. 1,673,040 and the Wilson et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,995,810 relate primarily to reel construction of a character dissimilar to that employed in the industry. An additional impediment to the development of a machine for such assembly is the difficulty of designing such a machine which permits ready adjustment for the assembly of reels of varying sizes and proportions. This is a necessary adjunct to a commercially acceptable machine because of the profuse variety of sizes of reels required by industry.
Therefore, it has long been recognized that it would be desirable to have a machine which possesses the capability of vastly increasing the number of such reels which can be assembled in a given period of time with only a minimum of manual assistance so as significantly to reduce the cost per unit and which can conveniently be adjusted to assemble structures of varying sizes and proportions.